Ultimate Teacher

Suzaku High School. A small meeting room, rarely open to outsiders.

"Fang Yan must be fired." A middle-aged man with a flushed face spoke in a steady voice. "A teacher like this is simply a disgrace to Suzaku High School. If the media finds out that we have a teacher physically punishing students, what kind of blow would that be to our reputation? What parent would still want to send their child to our school? If we don't handle this properly, it will cause incalculable damage to Suzaku."

The speaker was Zheng Tiancheng, a school board member at Suzaku High School. He usually didn't handle school matters, but whenever there was an important decision to make, he was required to be present.

Firing a teacher who hadn't even officially become permanent staff was a trivial matter for him. However, since the incident involved his son, he had personally organized this meeting.

After saying this, he glanced at Lu Chaoge, who was seated across from him.

If it weren't for this woman's stubbornness—if she had taken care of things immediately after his phone call—he wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of organizing this meeting.

This woman was truly proud. It seemed he needed to find a way to put some pressure on her.

The so-called "Queen of Education" from America still hadn't fully adapted to the realities of China.

"I agree." A tall, thin, middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses chimed in. He was Li Mingqiang, the school's director of education and a close ally of Zheng Tiancheng. "Our school's motto is unity, liveliness, diligence, and kindness. We've always worked to improve our students' personal qualities. However, we cannot overlook the need for strict standards for teachers. If the teachers who set the example are of low quality, how can we demand high standards from the students?"

"I suggest we deal with this teacher, who has violent tendencies, swiftly and appropriately. He should be removed from the teaching staff, and we should report him to the police to pursue criminal charges. This will serve as a warning to others and remind our faculty of the standards we expect. One mistake is more than enough. We must ensure this never happens again."

"I support Mr. Zheng and Director Li's proposal. Such behavior must not be tolerated."

"Agreed."

Lu Chaoge watched coldly as these people banded together to persecute the new teacher. Inside, she felt an irrepressible anger and a deep sadness.

Lu Chaoge had already investigated the matter through her own channels. She knew it was their children who were at fault. Why, then, should the bullied teacher be the one to leave?

What kind of world was this? Good people received no reward, while the wicked ran rampant?

"I disagree." Lu Chaoge stood up abruptly, her voice firm and unyielding. "Fang Yan did nothing wrong. He shouldn't be expelled from our school. If we drive out an innocent teacher, how will our school stand tall? How will we explain ourselves to Suzaku's 232 faculty members? How will we explain this to the students who witnessed the whole incident?"

No one had expected such a fierce pushback from Lu Chaoge. This woman—had she lost her mind? Or was she somehow romantically involved with this teacher Fang?

"No wrongdoing? He sent his students to the hospital, and that's not wrong?" Li Mingqiang sneered. "Principal Lu, you're quite skilled at covering for your subordinates."

"It was the students who injured themselves in a fight. They even injured their classmate Huang Haoran." Lu Chaoge defended.

"Nonsense. As we know, Zheng Guodong, Li Yang, and Chen Tao are close friends. They had lunch together before entering the classroom. How could they have fought each other?"

"Exactly. It was definitely Fang Yan who hit them and is now trying to shift the blame onto the students."

"A teacher without a sense of responsibility must be removed from the faculty. He's a disgrace to our school."

"Then let's verify it." Lu Chaoge said.

"What?" Everyone looked at her in confusion. What kind of verification?

After a brief hesitation, Lu Chaoge explained: "If you are convinced that Fang Yan hit the students, then there should be his fingerprints on their bodies. Let's examine the injured students. If we do find evidence of Fang Yan's physical contact—then Fang Yan will willingly resign."

To be honest, Lu Chaoge herself wasn't entirely confident in this proposal.

She believed Fang Yan hadn't struck the students, but during the scuffle, there surely must have been some physical contact, right?

If Fang Yan's fingerprints were indeed found on those three students, would they really force him to resign?

However, this was a solution Fang Yan had proposed himself. He was full of confidence, and the current situation didn't leave Lu Chaoge with many other options.

"Fine, let's verify it." Zheng Tiancheng decided swiftly.

________________________________________

Chen Dahai stood in the classroom, his sharp gaze sweeping over the students. "This is outrageous. A teacher hitting a student—where's the justice in that? In this day and age, does a teacher still rely on corporal punishment to discipline students? This isn't just incompetence—it's disgraceful."

The classroom was silent. All the students lowered their heads, not daring to meet Chen Dahai's eyes.

Chen Dahai was pleased with his authority. His voice softened a little. "The school is aware of the incident where the new language teacher, Fang Yan, assaulted Zheng Guodong, Li Yang, and Chen Tao. The matter is under discussion, and the school's decision is to dismiss Fang Yan and pursue criminal charges."

Upon hearing that Fang Yan was going to be dismissed, a ripple of unrest spread through the class.

Although Fang Yan had only been teaching for one day, his knowledge and humor had already won over many students. He was a fun, approachable teacher, and they didn't want to see him go.

"Quiet." Chen Dahai shouted.

The class immediately fell silent. As the math teacher and homeroom teacher, Chen Dahai held their academic fate in his hands.

"Anyone who does something wrong must take responsibility, including teachers. If a teacher sends students to the hospital, shouldn't they be punished?" Chen Dahai said sternly.

"Mr. Fang didn't do anything wrong—" Huang Haoran spoke up.

Chen Dahai's eyebrow twitched. "Whether Mr. Fang is in the wrong isn't for you to decide. It's not for me to decide either. The school decides. The decision has been made, and no one can change it. I suggest you all think carefully about what you should and shouldn't say—we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future."

Fang Yan might be leaving, but Chen Dahai would still be there. Who would dare offend their homeroom teacher over a teacher who was about to be dismissed?

"Does anyone else have anything to add?" Chen Dahai asked.

No one said a word. Everyone avoided his gaze.

"This period will be self-study." Chen Dahai stepped off the platform and walked toward the door. "Huang Haoran, come with me."